Hotshot: Jack Bauer took out the time trial. Photo: jxpphotography.com

Bauer's Australian Garmin teammates, 2011 champion Nathan Haas, Steele Von Hoff and Rohan Dennis were all in the top seven, while Simon Clarke was the fastest GreenEDGE rider, five seconds off the victor's pace.

Simon Gerrans, the biggest fish among 96 starters in the event and looking for an unprecedented third title in the 61st edition, begins stage one - a 116.1-kilometre course between Geelong and Ballarat - six seconds behind.

Last month's Tour Down Under winner, Gerrans completed the time trial in 3 minutes, 06 seconds.

''Like everyone says, he's in the form of his life and there's no better bike rider from this side of the world at the moment,'' Bauer said of Gerrans after racing over the short course along the Yarra River in the heart of Melbourne.

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''Obviously, he's the man to beat, and he has a strong team around him. But so do we - we can do exactly the same thing. We definitely have a few cards to play.''

Cameron Meyer, Matt Goss, Mitch Docker and under-23 rider Damien Howson make up the GreenEDGE outfit for the event. Thomas Dekker and Lachlan Morton round out the Garmin team.